Above BoardResearch / Agency transparency report, October 19, 2026
What agency websites don't tell creators.
We read 2,760 agency, TikTok LIVE network and webcam studio websites in several languages.
Key figures
don't name the company behind them
don't state their commission
disclose no company, commission or terms
of 2,512 disclose all three
Findings.
- Only 16% name a registered company
- Only 12% state their commission
- 21% of webcam studios state pay, but only 5% name the company
Sources for the earnings range: Rolling Stone, Human Rights Watch.
Share of sites that…
| Sites | Fan-platform agencies | TikTok LIVE networks | Webcam studios |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read in full | 697 | 835 | 980 |
| Name a company | 20% | 25% | 5% |
| State commission or payout | 7% | 6% | 21% |
| Terms or privacy | 48% | 40% | 33% |
Method.
Updated each time we repeat the read. Next edition: spring 2027.
How we did it
2,982 websites found in October 2026 through public agency lists and directories, search, a scan of business names in the Common Crawl web index and checks of likely domain names, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and other languages. Networks running near-identical sites under several domains count once. We read each homepage and its terms, privacy, pricing, about and contact pages, respecting robots.txt. We never log in, fill in forms or contact agencies.
A company counts only when the site names its own registered entity. A commission counts only when the site states its own rate. Every automated commission match and every new company match was checked by hand. Percentages are of the 2,512 sites we could read in full; 222 were offline or blocked and 248 couldn't be read in full.